(from The College Fix):

By Jennifer Kabbany

The notion of requiring students to take two courses in Western Civilization to earn a diploma is so controversial at Stanford University that a recently launched petition that calls for as much has propelled the school into a heated debate complete with name-calling, intimidation tactics and more.

On one side is the editorial board of the conservative-leaning Stanford Review, which introduced the petition Sunday asking peers to sign on, saying “Stanford University, an institution purportedly at the pinnacle of higher education, fails its students.”

But the requirement, if approved, would help change that, as “students would immerse themselves in the writings of Homer, Plato, Locke, Douglass, and de Beauvoir,” states a manifesto that accompanies the petition. “The scientific revolutions hundreds of Stanford students use would gain historical context. We would lament the horrors of slavery and oppression – and applaud those who fought for freedom.”

As it stands, Stanford students are only required to take a one-quarter “Thinking Matters” humanities class that is so broad in scope it can be met with courses such as “Breaking Codes, Finding Patterns” and “Food Talks: The Language of Food,” according to the manifesto, titled “The Case for a Western Civilization Requirement at Stanford.”

Only five days old, the petition has already been met with steep opposition from students who have labeled it “Euro-centric” and “racist” and suggested it’s propelled by “ignorant, rich, white kids,” according to online comments directed at the document and its authors. CONTINUE READING HERE